More than 1,000 people were feared killed in a massive earthquake that hit a remote Indonesian island famed as a surfing paradise and destroyed large parts of its main town.
The scene of devestation in Gunungsitoli, on the Indonesian island of Nias. Photograph: AP
The Indian Ocean epicentre of last night's 8.7 magnitude quake was just about 100 miles southeast of the upheaval three months ago that triggered a tsunami that left nearly 300,000 people dead or missing across Asia.
Indonesia's disaster centre said around 1,000 people were killed in the latest tremor, which was about two to four times less powerful than the 9.0 magnitude quake on December 26th.
Indonesia's vice president said the toll could reach 2,000.
The quake struck near Nias island off Sumatra and devastated the main town, Gunungsitoli. The airstrip was damaged and the first relief plane managed to land only today.
Many of the buildings in the town of 30,000 people were reduced to rubble. Bodies were being collected at a town mosque, and relief workers were treating the injured on a soccer field.
Relief workers from aid group Oxfam said roads in the town had collapsed. "Bodies are being pulled from the rubble as I speak," said Alessandra Villas-Boas, a member of Oxfam's assessment team. "The water system has failed completely and huge holes have been made in the roads."
Nias is a rugged and remote island about 870 miles northwest of Jakarta with a population of around 700,000.
The quake, which hit shortly before or just after midnight across Asia, spread terror in western Indonesia, Sri Lanka and coastal parts of India, Malaysia and Thailand, the areas devastated by the December tsunami.
Despite the late hour, the countries largely coped well, although there was considerable panic. In contrast to three months ago, when Asian nations were not even part of a warning network, the risk was immediately relayed by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii and distributed across the region.
Police, soldiers, monks, fishermen and residents of coastal areas across the Indian Ocean used megaphones, radio, telephones and temple bells to warn of the possibility of another tsunami. But well before dawn, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India had cancelled the alerts.
Authorities on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, put on alert after reports that a tsunami could be headed their way, also called off shoreline patrols before dawn.
This quake did trigger a tsunami, but it was a small one and headed south into the middle of the Indian Ocean, experts said. In December, the tsunami was powered north toward the Sumatra coastline, Sri Lanka, Thailand and India.
In Banda Aceh, the province on the mainland hardest hit by last year's tsunami, panic-stricken residents rushed into the streets after yesterday's quake.
Elsewhere across the Indian Ocean, beach-front roads in major resort areas - where tourist numbers are still well down on last year - were clogged with traffic as residents and holidaymakers jumped in any available transport to evacuate to higher ground.
The quake was felt as far away as Singapore and the Malaysian coastal city of Penang, jolting people out of their beds.